Orono HighSchool seniors Charlotte Finch and Corrine Field organized a donation drop-off of formal attire, including dresses and suits. This drive is taking place on Sept. 13 for communities in the Minneapolis metro area that are in need of homecoming attire.

Finch and Field said that they wanted to give back to the community in ways that get students involved with homecoming and football traditions.

“People donate dresses of all kinds, but with Homecoming coming up, we were targeting the shorter dresses to fit with the classic Homecoming trends. We wanted the girls to choose from the dresses to feel special and beautiful as they deserve so much,” Field said.

Now that dressing rooms are open to the public again, Charlotte and Corrinne teamed up with Genna Torney. She is helping them distribute the clothes to students in need at communities nearby. These students are able to purchase these pieces at a discounted price. A total of ten dresses and three suits were donated.

“There is no specific purpose behind this drive other than us realizing the overflow of past dance dresses that might just sit in people’s closets and we wanted to be able to give them back into the community. Not only is it supporting peers within the community, but it also goes towards sustainable fashion,” Finch said.

The two students said they are hoping for a future with this fundraiser. Their goal was to see how successful this year’s drive at OHS was and to work out any issues that came up. They also expressed future opportunities for students to donate.

“We would love to get as much dance attire involved as possible. In the future, we would love to expand the organization to other schools and that is something we are seriously considering doing pretty soon,” Field said.

Finch and Field are looking to expand the organization and get younger students involved in the success of the organization.

“We would love to host drives before every dance to give students the chance to donate dresses they’ve acquired since the last dance and give those in need the chance to have access to a new supply of dresses for the dance to come,” Finch said.